Content:
Draft, with minor corrections, of the first poem in the cluster titled "Thoughts" when it was first published in
Leaves of Grass
(1860–61). It was reprinted in the 1867 edition of
Leaves of Grass
but omitted from all subsequent editions.
Content:
Draft, with a few corrections, of the sixth poem in the cluster titled "Thoughts" when it was first published in
Leaves of Grass
(1860–61). In the 1867 edition it appeared again as "6" in the "Thoughts" cluster. In the 1871–72 edition, revised and titled Thought, it was included in the "Songs of Parting" cluster. It did not appear in later editions of
Leaves of Grass.
Content:
Draft, with revisions, of the seventh poem in the cluster titled "Thoughts" when it was first published in
Leaves of Grass
(1860–61). In the 1867 edition it appeared again as "7" in the "Thoughts" cluster. In the 1871–72 edition it was titled "Thought" and not included in any cluster. Finally, in
Leaves of Grass
(1881–82) it appeared as "Thought" in the "By the Roadside" cluster.
Content:
Draft, with minor revisions, of the second poem in the cluster titled "Thoughts" when it was first published in
Leaves of Grass
(1860–61). In the 1867 and 1871–72 editions it appeared again as "2" in clusters titled "Thoughts." Finally, in
Leaves of Grass
(1881–82) Whitman combined parts of this and another poem, again titled Thoughts, and included it in the "By the Roadside" cluster.
Whitman Archive Title: Thought [Of these years I sing]
Content:
Whitman inscribed and circled the note "2d/ piece/ in Book" in the upper-right
corner of the first leaf. The small top section is inscribed on the verso of some
deleted draft verses excised from "So
Long!" "Thought"
became section 9 of "Chants
Democratic" in 1860. In the 1867
Leaves of Grass
Whitman combined it with the second
"Thought" to form the poem
"Thoughts" in the
supplement "Songs Before
Parting." (This particular "Thought" was numbered section 1 of the composite poem.) In 1871 "Thoughts" appeared in the cluster
"Songs of Parting" within
the main body of
Leaves of Grass
,
and in 1881, it achieved its final position within that cluster. These leaves
correspond to the verses in the 1860 "Chants Democratic" version.
Whitman Archive Title: Thought [Of closing up my songs by these]
Content:
The paste-on revision contains an expanded version of the original lines Whitman
cut away and apparently discarded. The verso of the paste-on section contains,
five undeleted draft lines that would become the final verses of "Proto-Leaf" in the 1860
Leaves of Grass
; Whitman's small
note in the lower-right corner, in a semi-circle, reads "end of Poem." These
"Thought" lines became
section 11 of "Chants
Democratic" in 1860. In the 1867
Leaves of Grass
Whitman combined it with the second
"Thought" to form the poem
"Thoughts" in the
supplement "Songs Before
Parting." In 1871 "Thoughts" appeared in the cluster "Songs of Parting" within the main body of
Leaves of Grass
, and in 1881, it
achieved its final position within that cluster.
Content:
These manuscript lines were revised to form numbered section 7 of the ungrouped
poem "Says" in the 1860
edition of
Leaves of Grass
.
Whitman cut four verse paragraphs in the 1867
Leaves of Grass
version; from that point on the
shortened poem appeared, ungrouped, under the title "Suggestions" until its final appearance in 1876. The
cancelled lines on the top section of the manuscript appear to be a draft of lines
that were never published but that bear great resemblance to the various "Thoughts" and "Thought (Of . . .)" poems Whitman
published throughout the many editions of
Leaves of Grass
.
Content:
Corrected pages, many originally appearing in the 1876
Leaves of Grass,
of cluster "Songs of Parting," containing 17 poems.
Opposite a portrait of Whitman, the title page reads, "Songs of Parting,
by Walt Whitman, The Poet's Corrected Proof." These corrections were
probably intended for the 1881–82 edition of
Leaves of Grass
. The 17 poems included
are: "As the Time Draws
Nigh,"
"Ashes of Soldiers,"
"Years of the
Modern,"
"Thoughts,"
"Song at Sunset,"
"My Legacy,"
"Pensive on Her Dead
Gazing, I Heard the Mother of All,"
"Camps of Green,"
"Bathed in War's
Perfume,"
"Now Finalé to the
Shore,"
"As they Draw to a
Close,"
"The Untold Want,"
"Portals,"
"These Carols,"
"To the Reader at
Parting,"
"Joy, Shipmate,
Joy!," and "So
Long."
